1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus having a function to cool sheets on which toner images are formed.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, there is an image forming apparatus which forms toner images on sheets using an image forming section, heats the sheets and fixes the toner images on the sheets using a fixing device, and discharges the sheets onto a sheet stacking section using a discharge section (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-212433). The sheets discharged from the discharge section are discharged onto the sheet stacking section, which serves as a sheet stacking unit, in a short time after being heated by the fixing device. Therefore, toner of the toner images may fail to cool and solidify in some cases. In such cases, the toner acts as a sort of adhesive, bonding the sheets piled up on the sheet stacking section to each other.
Thus, the image forming apparatus described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. H11-212433 blows air directly at the sheets from a side of the sheets when the sheets are being discharged and loaded onto the sheet stacking section, and thereby cools the sheets together with the toner of the toner images to prevent the sheets from being bonded to each other on the sheet stacking section.
However, the conventional image forming apparatus cools the sheets together with the toner of the toner images by blowing air directly at the sheets from a side of the sheets when the sheets are being discharged and loaded onto the sheet stacking section. Consequently, the conventional image forming apparatus tends to blow off sheets of lightweight, plain or thin paper rather than thick paper, making it difficult to load the sheets onto the sheet stacking section by neatly aligning the sheets.
The present invention provides an image forming apparatus having a function to cool hot sheets without blowing off the sheets loaded onto a sheet stacking unit.